From the Past

Secret Level: “Spec Ops: The Line”

‘Spec Ops: The Line’ has been described, by the voices I respect regarding games, as worth playing.. ‘Save My Game’ adds itself to that list, explaining (in a spoiler-free way) how it is a valuable contribution to games as a whole.

The modern military shooter is in a lot of trouble. Firmly entrenched (get used to it if you’re new) in tired cliche and staunchly avoiding the sort of political commentary which media in the unique position of allowing a person to experience war vicariously really should engage with, military games are rapidly becoming exercises in shooting all the men surrounded by green, brown and sickly beige. Sure, occasional innovations in gameplay and multiplayer efficiency will appear in pioneering games like Call of Duty or Battlefield, but the narrative aspect of these games remains archaic in the face of growing anxiety regarding the exact nature and purpose of the military in a world of drone warfare.

Enter Spec Ops: The Line, a 2012 third-person shooter which casts players in the role of Cpt. Martin Walker, a soldier dispatched to war-torn Dubai with his two squadmates in the hopes of…